Clear case for the Füchse?

On Wednesday and Thursday, handball will be played in the Champions League. But that doesn’t mean that the Bundesliga is taking a break. Four games are on the programme in the German top flight on Thursday. The only top club to take to the court is the Füchse from Berlin. They will face ASV Hamm Westfalen in their home Max-Schmeling-Halle.

In the Bundesliga table, the Foxes dropped to fifth place last weekend. But that is because they already had to deal with SG Flensburg-Handewitt and split the points away from home. The four teams at the top of the league table, all of whom are without a loss, have only had to fulfil supposedly obligatory tasks.

The capital city will therefore be able to live with the one minus point, although in this strong league every loss of a point can be one too many. The promoted ASV team does not have these expectations. So far, they have 0:8 points after four match days.

However, it has to be said that the promoted team has done quite well so far and almost without exception has faced top teams. It will be no different on Thursday and therefore there is of course a danger that they will pick up the next defeat. Generally speaking, you should only place a bet on a home win in the match between Füchse Berlin and Hamm Westfalen.

Foxes Berlin – Statistics & current form

The Foxes from the capital can completely concentrate on the national tasks at the moment. The group phase in the European League does not start until the end of October and until then, the focus is on the Bundesliga and the DHB Cup and to get as many points as possible without a long English week. Jaron Siewert’s team has set itself big goals this year. In any case, the squad has enough to aim for the championship.

Lost a point

With Max Darj, Mathias Gidsel and Viktor Kireev, they have made outstanding additions. All experts agree that the Foxes can become German champions for the first time this season. The start was almost optimal with 7:1 points. Jaron Siewert’s team still has some room for improvement, but it is clear that we only have to look at the odds for a home win in the Füchse Berlin vs Hamm Westfalen match.

Last weekend, the Berliners failed to remain without a loss. For a long time, it looked like an away win in the guest game in Flensburg. This was mainly because Mathias Gidsel had an outstanding game and scored from all angles. In the end, however, his eleven goals were only enough for a 31-31 draw.

This was also due to the fact that keeper Dejan Milosavljev had to play with physical problems and was visibly in pain. However, the Serb should be completely fit again by Thursday. Alternatively, Viktor Kireev will get more playing time, which would not be the biggest disadvantage in terms of quality. Otherwise, things could hardly look better for the capitals in terms of personnel at the moment.

Projected line-up of Füchse Berlin:
Kireev, Milosavljev – Andersson, Chrintz, Darj, Drux, Freihofer, Gidsel, Holm, Kopljar, Lichtlein, Lindberg, Marsenic, Vujovic, Wiede – Coach: Siewert

Last matches of Füchse Berlin:

Bundesliga
15/09/2022 – SG Flensburg-Handewitt 31 – 31 Füchse Berlin

11/09/2022 – Füchse Berlin 31 – 21 TVB 1898 Stuttgart

07/09/2022 – HSG Wetzlar 25 – 37 Füchse Berlin

04/09/2022 – Füchse Berlin 34 – 27 FA Göppingen

12/06/2022 – Füchse Berlin 22 – 28 SG Flensburg-Handewitt

Hamm Westfalen – Statistics & current form

You really only have to take a look at the squads of both teams to know where the hare is heading on Thursday. While the Berliners have legionnaires from the best handball nations in the world in their line-up, Hamm has national players from Greece or Estonia, for example. The Foxes also have German national players in the starting line-up.

Rising stars still without a point win

But the Berliners are not the team the Westphalians can take on anyway. A point against a title contender would be a big deal, but should not be expected. Bitter for the promoted team, however, is the fact that they had a tough opening programme with Magdeburg, Erlangen, the Rhein-Neckar Löwen and now the Berliners.

This is how the euphoria of a promoted team is nipped in the bud. 0:8 points after four games is no big surprise now. At least the defeats were all within manageable limits. Only the champions in Magdeburg suffered an 8-goal defeat. But that also means that before the match between the Füchsen Berlin and Hamm Westfalen, we would predict a handicap victory for the home side with a difference of eight to nine goals.

Last weekend, there was a 29:32 defeat against HC Erlangen at home in the Westpress Arena. That sounds close, but ASV were trailing the entire game and were never really close to winning a point. It may now be even more difficult to keep the defeat within acceptable limits away from home against one of the Big Four teams in the league.

Predicted line-up of Hamm Westfalen:
Bozic, Hertlein – Bauer, Bornemann, Dayan, Fuchs, Huesmann, Meschke, Orlowski, Patrail, Pretzewofsky, Savvas, Schulze, von Boenigk, Wieling – Coach: Lerscht

Last matches of Hamm Westfalen:

Bundesliga
17/09/2022 – ASV Hamm-Westfalen 29 – 32 HC Erlangen

11/09/2022 – VfL Gummersbach 29 – 28 ASV Hamm-Westfalen

08/09/2022 – ASV Hamm-Westfalen 30 – 35 Rhein-Neckar-Löwen

04/09/2022 – SC Magdeburg 31 – 23 ASV Hamm-Westfalen

2nd Bundesliga
11/06/2022 – TV 05/07 Hüttenberg 32 – 25 ASV Hamm-Westfalen

Füchse Berlin – Hamm Westfalen Direct comparison / H2H-balance

After eleven long years, ASV Hamm Westfalen is once again a member of the Beletage of German handball. Therefore, the team from Lippe has rarely played against the big teams in German handball. They have only played four matches against the Füchse Berlin so far. All four games were won by the team from the capital.

The last two direct matches took place in the 2010/11 season, when Berlin won by three goals at home and by five goals away. At that time, Silvio Heinevetter, Sven-Sören Christophersen and Fabian Böhm were still in the Füchsen squad. Eleven years ago, Hamm still had the current Flensburg coach Maik Machulla in the starting line-up.

Füchse Berlin – Hamm Westfalen Tip

The Füchse will almost certainly remain without a defeat this season on Thursday. 7:1 points from four games is a decent haul, especially when you already had to face Flensburg. That’s also where the one point loss comes from. As a title candidate, you absolutely have to win clearly at home against a promoted team.

Moreover, ASV is not exactly coming to the Max-Schmeling-Halle with a broad chest. After four games of the season, they have not yet been able to book a point on their account. There is not much to suggest that this will change on Thursday.

As is so often the case in handball, it will be a matter of having the right feeling for the level of victory and the right handicap. We think that this match will go similarly to the one of the Lippestädter in Magdeburg and therefore we decided to play the betting odds on a handicap win (-8.5) for the Berliners between the Füchsen Berlin and Hamm Westfalen.